Friday, October 31, 2008

In the news story below, a woman's lies helped put a man behind bars for ten months -- and she was sentenced to 50 hours community service.

You read that right. 50 hours -- of no jail time.

How is this sentence proportional to the false accuser's crime? Let's talk about proportionality for a second. It is a fundamental maxim of our jurisprudence that the punishment should fit the crime. For most crimes, it is difficult to discern what is a proper punishment. What sentence does a punch in the nose warrant? Our jurisprudence does not generally sentence the criminal to be subjected to the same harm as he or she inflicted on the victim (or else a criminal would receive a punch in the nose for having inflicted a punch in the nose); for serious crimes, our jurisprudence opts for incarceration instead. The reason it is usually difficult to say what sentence is appropriate for a particular crime is because generally the harm inflicted to the victim (e.g., the punch in the nose) and the sentence to the criminal for inflicting that harm (incarceration) are proverbial apples and oranges -- jail time for a punch in the nose -- so there is never an exact match.

But in this case, it's not apples and oranges. Among other things, the harm inflicted on the victim, the man, was ten months' jail time – the same punishment that the criminal, the woman, could have received. The harm to him and the possible punishment to her are apples and apples. Yet she doesn't even serve a day in jail. (The fact is, the harm to him was far greater than the time he served in jail -- there were numerous other direct harms flowing from the false accusation – the psychological torment, the damage to his reputation, being rendered an outcast among his friends and family -- the list goes on and on.)

But at a minimum, for starters, it would have been proper, and fair, to assume she should serve at least as much jail time as her victim -- and then tack on more time for the other harms she caused -- right?

Apparently not to the judge in this case.

How will she and others be deterred from making false rape claims in the future? Answer: She and they won't be deterred.

Robert Sutton, who owns the Happy Angler store at Mourea, spent 10 months behind bars after being convicted in October 2005 of two violent rapes he says he never committed. He was released following a successful appeal after new evidence showed his former partner, Marion Anne Carter of Te Awamutu, "gathered false evidence in support of the allegations prior to the trial".

Carter pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday and was sentenced to 50 hours' community work.

The charge carries a maximum of seven years' jail.Mr Sutton told The Daily Post yesterday he was gutted Carter got such a light sentence, saying she should have had to serve 10 months in jail also.

"I just think the justice system has let us down."

Mr Sutton was convicted of 15 charges - two of rape, nine of assault and four relating to assault with a weapon. Carter was the main complainant out of three.

The Crown decided in August last year it would not put Mr Sutton on trial a second time.

As the story below indicates, a woman who falsely accused an instructor of rape will go to trial in January. The instructor, however, was suspended following her rape accusation, and his contract was not renewed, supposedly for unrelated reasons.

A College of Lake County student who police say falsely accused an instructor of raping her pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County circuit court.

Antoinette Taylor, 38, faces up to three years in prison if convicted of felony disorderly conduct.Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Bolling Haxall said Taylor, of 309 Glenwood Drive, Round Lake, originally went to campus police and said she had been sexually assaulted by the instructor.

Taylor told police the instructor, who has not been identified publicly, attacked her in a classroom on the Grayslake campus in early March.

CLC police contacted Grayslake police for assistance in the investigation. Police took DNA samples, gathered other evidence and conducted several interviews.

Some of the evidence collected contradicted Taylor's story, police said, and she admitted she had fabricated the story about the rape in mid-May.

The instructor was suspended after Taylor made the report, and his contract was not renewed for the 2008-09 school year.

CLC officials said after a closed-door meeting in July they were standing by their decision not to renew the teacher's contract, but the decision was unrelated to the false allegation or his job performance.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

In the news story below, a false rape accusation resulted in the repeated questioning of a man who fit the suspect's description.

Imagine if you were that man -- or if you are not a male, imagine you are that that man's wife or girlfriend or mother.

Imagine the terror of knowing that at any time, for reasons completely beyond your control, you or he might be arrested and put in jail based on a lie.

Imagine the terror of knowing that you or he might go to trial and that the jury might not believe the truth.

Imagine the terror of knowing that you or he could be convicted and sent away for decades. Your life, or his life, taken away. All because a women lied.

With that in mind, consider what happened to the false accuser for the terror she most assuredly caused this innocent man: she was sentenced to no jail time.

None. Not a single day.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, further evidences that our society does not take false rape claims seriously enough, and that it has little regard for the men and boys who are, in various ways, victims of these lies.

There was no intruder, no stranger out of the night bent on raping Holly Mebruer.

Instead, there was "rough sex" gone wrong, infidelity and what Mebruer testified Monday was a big mistake.

The 35-year-old was found guilty of filing a false police report after a bench trial before Greene County Associate Circuit Judge Mark Powell.

As punishment for the misdemeanor, she'll have to pay the Springfield Police Department more than $1,350, undergo counseling and spend two years on unsupervised probation.

In late April, the woman called police to her home at Lake Shore Apartments, 3660 South Cox Ave., reporting she'd been the victim of assault and attempted rape.

She said she'd gone outside to check on her dog when a large black man overcame her. He cut off her clothes and punched her in the eye before Mebruer was able to kick him in the groin, sending him stumbling out of the apartment.

Police responding to the scene found the woman's apartment in disarray, clothes that had been cut or torn and injuries on Mebruer's left eye and chest.

The resulting investigation occupied dozens of hours and resulted in the repeated questioning of a man who fit the suspect's description. It also prompted the apartment complex's management to send safety warnings to tenants.

But Mebruer's tale was false.

Confronted by police about discrepancies in the report, she eventually admitted as much.

Mebruer, who had a boyfriend, was with another man that night. She testified they'd engaged in "rough" romantic behavior during past dalliances, but that his conduct on this occasion alarmed her.

"Something was just different about it, and it did scare me," Mebruer said.

The man pulled out a silver pocket knife and cut her clothes off, she said. He then began running the weapon lightly over her chest. When she kneed the man in the groin to get him to stop, he punched her in the eye and left, Mebruer testified.

She called several friends, she said, then called 911 with her false tale.

"I don't believe I was rational in any sense of the word," Mebruer said. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about why I would say something like that.

"I would give anything to go back and change it."

The woman's ready admission made Powell's job an easy one. Except for some small discrepancies, Mebruer's testimony agreed with those of three Springfield police officers who testified earlier in the trial.

Woman guilty of false rape chargeA former Springfield woman was found guilty of filing a false report of assault and attempted rape.

Holly Mebruer, 35, will have to pay the Springfield Police Department more than $1,350, undergo counseling and spend two years on unsupervised probation.

She was found guilty of the misdemeanor Oct. 20 by Greene County Associate Circuit Judge Mark Powell after a bench trial.

In April, Mebruer told police a man attacked her and tried to rape her in her home at Lake Shore Apartments, 3660 South Cox Ave. She said he fled after kicked him in the groin.

Police found clothes that had been cut or torn and injuries on Mebruer's left eye and chest.The investigation took dozens of hours and led to repeated questioning of a man who fit the suspect's description. It also prompted the apartment management to send safety warnings to tenants.

After police found discrepancies in Mebruer's story, she admitted it was false.

Mebruer, who had a boyfriend, was with another man. She said they engaged in rough romantic behavior -- he cut her clothes off and ran a knife blade over her body.

After she kneed him in the groin, he punched her in the eye and left, Mebruer said.She called several friends, she said, then called 911 with her false tale.

Mebruer said she lost her job as a result of the charges and publicity. Unable to find work here, she now lives in Rolla.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Below is a follow-up to a story we previously reported where we doubted that a rape had occurred. The case against the young man has unraveled, and charges were dropped. Note the following, and ask yourself why this matter wasn't dropped much, much sooner:

Coggins also alleged in pretrial court documents that VanDerbeek's accuser previously made similar unsubstantiated accusations against two other university students five months prior to making the accusation against VanDerbeek. Coggins argued that evidence of the woman's alleged prior false accusations against other students tended to prove that she fabricated the sexual assault claim against VanDerbeek.In the petition, Coggins listed numerous alleged similarities between the woman's accusations against VanDerbeek and the accusations she allegedly made against two other students - including assertions that the accuser never struggled or called out for help and that she voluntarily consumed alcohol with each of the men in dorm rooms or at campus apartments just prior to the alleged sexual encounters.HERE IS THE NEWS STORY:

READING — Faced with findings that police destroyed evidence and an uncooperative alleged victim, prosecutors have dismissed all charges against a Telford man once accused of raping a Lower Pottsgrove woman, a fellow student at Kutztown University.

Charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault and sexual assault were dismissed against 19-year-old James VanDerbeek in Berks County Court on Thursday.

"My client has maintained his innocence from day one. I can't tell you how pleased we are that justice has been done in this case," defense lawyer Maureen C. Coggins said on VanDerbeek's behalf.

"He's an innocent man who was accused of a horrendous crime and his and his family's life was horribly affected by that."

"His life was hell and he suffered as a result of this arrest," Coggins added.

"This was a nightmare for him and his family and now he can start to rebuild his life."

VanDerbeek, a 2007 graduate of Souderton Area High School, had been charged in connection with an alleged March 24 incident inside the Lower Pottsgrove woman's dorm room at the university.

The defense, Coggins indicated in court papers, was that the woman fabricated the accusations against VanDerbeek and engaged in consensual sex without force.

VanDerbeek, a former member of the university's wrestling and track teams, is currently attending a community college.

Dismissal of the charges comes on the heels of allegations, made by Coggins in pretrial court documents, that a Kutztown University police officer shredded VanDerbeek's initial statement to authorities, preventing VanDerbeek the chance to present a complete defense.

In court papers, Coggins had asked that all charges be dismissed against VanDerbeek.

Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said state police investigated the destruction of evidence allegations.

"The bottom line here is that the allegation that police destroyed evidence was not an allegation, it was true," Adams said Thursday.

Adams said the finding that evidence was destroyed undermined the integrity of the investigation in the VanDerbeek case.

"The destruction of evidence is a violation of the rules of discovery and would have hindered any prosecution of this case," Adams explained.

Authorities have not identified the Kutztown University police officer at the center of the destruction of evidence probe.

"We haven't made any final determination as to whether charges will be filed in regard to the destruction of evidence," said Adams, indicating the investigation is continuing.

Coggins also alleged in pretrial court documents that VanDerbeek's accuser previously made similar unsubstantiated accusations against two other university students five months prior to making the accusation against VanDerbeek. Coggins argued that evidence of the woman's alleged prior false accusations against other students tended to prove that she fabricated the sexual assault claim against VanDerbeek.

In the petition, Coggins listed numerous alleged similarities between the woman's accusations against VanDerbeek and the accusations she allegedly made against two other students - including assertions that the accuser never struggled or called out for help and that she voluntarily consumed alcohol with each of the men in dorm rooms or at campus apartments just prior to the alleged sexual encounters.

Adams said he asked Berks detectives to conduct an independent investigation of the rape allegations.

"The victim told us that she would no longer cooperate in the investigation," Adams confirmed.Coggins praised Adams and his staff for their review of the case.

NEW DELHI: Two women were arrested in the national capital for allegedly extorting Rs 100 from a man after threatening to implicate him in a rape case, police said on Friday.

The women were caught following a complaint filed by one Nishant Gaur, a resident of Mansarovar Park, that he was threatened by three women who took the money from him.

The incident took place when Gaur stopped his motorcycle at Netaji Nagar on September 24, police said, adding that suddenly three women appeared on the scene and one of them sat on his vehicle.

While the second woman stood in front of the vehicle, the third took the keys and demanded money threatening that they would raise alarm and implicate him in a rape case, they said.

Gaur gave Rs 100 and drove away from the scene to police station where he registered a complaint. A police team accompanied Gaur to the spot and after sometime they found the women standing near the Netaji Nagar round-about waiting for another prey.

After Gaur identified them, police managed to catch two. A case has been registered and further investigations are on.

Monday, October 27, 2008

In an op-ed column found here, feminist write Jessica Vozel opines about the Ashley Todd case in a manner that disregards the real victims of false accusations of sexual assault -- innocent men and boys who are targeted as suspects due to such lies. Todd is the the young McCain supporter who falsely claimed that a black man carved a "B" in her face. Here is what Ms. Vozel wrote:

"But before the falsity of her report became clear, the media reported the story with the assumption of truth. It’s problematic, first of all, that her story was automatically believed – some speculate this was because she identified her attacker as being black and, as the Susan Smith case in 1995 proved, implicating a black perpetrator increases your chances of being believed. But it’s also problematic in another way: For every false police report filed by a woman about an incident of sexual assault, women who are actually sexually assaulted have a tougher time being believed. In a culture that already distrusts rape victims to the point where many never come forward, it’s dangerous and sad for legitimate victims when some of the most publicized sexual assault cases (Todd, the Duke rape case, etc.) end up being false reports."First, it is shocking that we have a feminist who says it is "problematic" that a woman was"automatically believed" when she accused a male of a brutal attack. This, of course, is exactly correct but why do I suspect that Ms. Vozel would not say this if the claim had been reported by a black woman who was also an Obama supporter and the alleged assailant was a white man?

Second, and not so shocking, is that a feminist misses the point entirely about the real harm of false reports of sexual assault cases. Ms. Vozel is more concerned about hypothetical, phantom, possible, could-be, even unborn rape victims who might be, possibly will be, may be dissuaded by such lies from coming forward, as opposed to the real victims of false rape claims -- the men and boys who actually are at risk of being arrested based on a lie. Innocent men and boys are too often considered to be nothing more than collateral damage in the war on rape, because false rape claims are typically viewed through a gynocentric lens that blinks at the harm they cause innocent men and boys. We've previously dealt with this peculiar and unfortunate phenomenon -- How women became the primary vicitms of a crime that only targest men

Third, Ms. Vozel wrties: "it’s dangerous and sad for legitimate victims when some of the most publicized sexual assault cases (Todd, the Duke rape case, etc.) end up being false reports." Ms. Vozel, pardon me for not sharing in your sadness. I am thrilled that three young Lacrosse players did not brutally rape a woman and won't have to spend decades behind prison bars. As we've previously pointed out, some radical feminists apparently would have preferred the accuser in the Duke case to have been brutally raped (or, more likely, to have her lie go undetected) as opposed to having the three young men declared "innocent," as occurred.

A drunken woman who shouted “rape” when a taxi driver, whom she had refused to pay, threatened to take her to the Garda Station, was given two suspended prison sentences at Galway District Court yesterday.

Judge Aeneus McCarthy imposed two consecutive two-month sentences on 26 year old Florence Healy of 190 Laurel Park, Newcastle, which he suspended for twelve months.

He said that anyone who made a false allegation of rape should go to prison as it was a very, very serious offence.

Florence Healy pleaded guilty to trying to make off without paying a €13 taxi fare, to breaching the peace, to being drunk in public and to assaulting the taxi driver.

The driver threatened to take her straight to the Garda Station when she wouldn't pay her fare and at that point Healy started shouting, “rape”, while still in the taxi.

Defence solicitor, Sean O’Carroll said his client was a single mother and her child would suffer if she received a custodial sentence.

Imposing a two-month sentence on Healy for assaulting the taxi driver and a further two months for breaching the peace by shouting out “rape”, Judge McCarthy said anyone who made a false allegation of that nature should go to prison.

He then suspended the sentence on condition Healy keep the peace and be of good behaviour for twelve months.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Here is another article on the Palos Heights rape hoax where yet another so-called authority on sexual assault makes unsupported statements that minimize the false rape problem in America. Among other things, this "expert" says that the public perception is that" false claims of sexual assault "are far more common than they actually are."

Here we go again. We are so weary of these "experts" who pontificate on rape without reliable, objective data. Shame on the Southtown Star for its irresponsibility.

First, here is the comment I left under the article:

Your article states that sexual assault "is one of the most underreported felonies, but studies show that the public perception is that" false claims of sexual assault "are far more common than they actually are."

Where is your support for this comment? It is misleading for the reasons set forth below. My Web site is devoted to injecting objectivity into the epidemic of false claims of sexual assault: http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com/ In fact, it is sexual assault counselors, with the media's complicity, not the general public, who practice self-delusion when it comes to false accusations of sexual assault.

Here are the facts: In "Until Proven Innocent," the widely praised (praised even by the New York Times, which the book skewers) and painstaking study of the Duke Lacrosse case, Stuart Taylor and Professor K.C. Johnson examined all of the major studies dealing with false claims of sexual assault and explained that the exact number of false claims is elusive but "[t]he standard assertion by feminists that only 2 percent" or sexual assault claims "are false, which traces to Susan Brownmiller's 1975 book "Against Our Will," is without empirical foundation and belied by a wealth of empirical data. These data suggest that at least 9 percent and probably closer to half" of all sexual assault claims "are false . . . ." (Page 374.)

In addition, FBI statistics show that false reporting of sexual assault is fourfold greater than the average for all crimes. The Politics of Sexuality, Barry M. Dank, Editor in Chief, Vol. 3 at 36, n. 8.As one example of how sexual assault counselors, with the news media's complicity, hide the facts in this area: This very newspaper recently relied on sexual assault counselors when it reported that sexual assault claimants "almost always" tell the truth about sexual assault. http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1215592,101208rapeadvocates.article

What is interesting about that article is that it cited Prof. Eugene Kanin's landmark study on false sexual assault claims as authoritative -- but guess what? The article somehow forgot to mention that Kanin's study found that 41% of the claims he examined were not just false but actually recanted. The number of false claims may been higher. Here is the study: http://www.sexcriminals.com/library/doc-1002-1.pdf

I suppose the 41% didn't fit the story your newspaper set out to tell. And that is very, very disturbing to those of us who tire of seeing innocent men and boys denigrated by false claims of sexual assault. A lie about sexual assault is very easy to make, and once made, the life of a man or boy accused is often destroyed. I do wish this newspaper would exercise greater responsibility in this area.

That, more or less, is the situation the 17-year-old girl who cried rape in Palos Heights Sept. 16 finds herself in today, five days after she admitted she made the whole thing up.

The media has a longstanding policy of not naming rape victims in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

News organizations - like the police - don't want to unnecessarily add to the stress of a traumatic sexual experience or to discourage other victims from coming forward.

But when it turns out there wasn't a rape in the first place, the question gets more complicated, media ethics experts say.

"I'd name her," said professor Jack Doppelt, who teaches ethics classes at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

"The question which most people don't ask is, 'Why do we name anyone in any situation?' and the answer is for accountability, so that readers can trust what they're reading and weigh the reliability of the person involved," he said.

"That rule is suspended for people who are the victims of rape or minors, but since that no longer applies in this case, I think she should be named, even if she is only 17."

The SouthtownStar, which does not normally name suspects who have not been charged - as the 17-year-old has not - has decided not to name the girl.

That was probably the right decision, according to Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute.

"It's a fine balance," McBride said. "I wouldn't name her, but I also wouldn't fault an editor who chose to name her.

"Rape is one of the most underreported felonies, but studies show that the public perception is that false rape reports are far more common than they actually are.

"Journalists have to be careful that they don't discourage victims with legitimate complaints from coming forward, and that they don't reinforce the impression that most rape claims are false."

While police say there is no doubt the girl in the Palos Heights case made up her story, many victims retract true rape allegations under pressure from investigators - another factor that should be considered before alleged hoaxers are named - McBride said.

The girl's young age and apparently fragile mental state also should be taken into account, McBride said.

"You have to ask what you're trying to achieve and see if there's another way of doing it," she said.

But some argue shielding the names of rape victims stigmatizes them while giving license to those who make false accusations.

"Robbery victims and murder victims are named, and nobody thinks they are to blame for what happened to them."

Maroc said he has overseen several trials where men were falsely accused of child abuse or rape."They were found not guilty, but once their name had been on page one, it didn't matter - their lives were ruined."

Maroc cited the work of the Des Moines (Iowa) Register, which caused a stir in 1991 when it ran an editorial arguing that rape victims should be named.

The article prompted rape victim Nancy Ziegenmeyer to come forward and led to a series that won a Pulitzer Prize.

In the vast majority of cases, however, unless the victim volunteers to be named, they won't be."Rape is different," McBride said. "It's a violation of a victim's body and privacy, and I think it has to be treated differently."

Kim Janssen can be reached at kjanssen@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5998.

The rape of a 17-year-old sandwich shop worker wasn't real, but the steps women have taken to guard their personal safety in recent weeks is, Southland women said Saturday. The heightened concern that arose after the report of the violent attack was accompanied Saturday by shock, relief and anger as details of the girl's lie spread.

A troubled girl

At Palos Diner, across 111th Street from Stagg High School, Mary DiBrita and Lisa Bowman finished a late breakfast. They said they feel badly for the girl, adding that her actions seem like a desperate call for attention.

"She clearly has issues," said DiBrita, of Palos Hills. "I think she needs to see a therapist who can dig deep to find out what made her do this."

Joanne Hoglund, of Evergreen Park, said she hopes people just leave the girl and her family alone now.

"I feel sorry for her problems," Hoglund said. "For her to make up this story and carry it through as far as she did, something must be really wrong."

DiBrita and Bowman wondered whether the girl experienced a sexual assault in the past, and her lie was a strange attempt to bring it to the surface. Either way, news of the rape disturbedthem and inspired them to change some habits.

A neighborhood's (false) alarm

Bowman, who works as a waitress at Durbin's in Tinley Park, said bouncers there have walked female employees to their cars every night since the alleged incident.

They weren't the only ones who were scared enough by the news to look over their shoulders more often.

Cathy Baumann is co-owner of Baumann's Bakery in Palos Heights, immediately north of the T.J. Grinders sub shop, where the alleged abduction happened.

She said the incident led her to have "long talks" with her younger employees about what they should do, including calling the cops, if something seemed suspicious.

Although the bakery closes at 5:30 p.m., Baumann said she often would open the door for customers picking up an order late. She stopped doing that after the alleged attack.

Marianne Howley, a Palos Heights resident who lives near T.J. Grinders, said news of the rape sent her neighborhood into a frenzy.

"Every time I saw a black car (the girl told police her attacker's car was black), I wondered if it was him," Howley said.

The girl described her attacker with olive skin.

A sketch of a man with dark hair and eyes and a heavy mustache circulated the neighborhood. It also was posted on a huge poster along Harlem Avenue, making many residents conclude the attacker was Arab.

The doubters

That part of the story made Kim Smith suspicious. The Evergreen Park resident said she felt bad for the girl at first, but thought the story sounded fishy.

"Something didn't seem right about it," Smith said. "It sounded too convenient that he was Arabic. I thought, 'Boy, that's an easy target.' I think there was bigger interest in it because of the Arab thing. If she said it was a white guy, it might not have got so much attention."

Jo Drucker, 70, of Evergreen Park, said she had a hunch the 17-year-old wasn't telling the truth."I think it's unfortunate when young people don't feel comfortable enough to go to their parents or whomever," Drucker said.

Marie Strutz, of Palos Heights, said children need to feel comfortable with their parents to open up.

"If one of my kids made the story up and she was 17, she would have a lot of grounding," Strutz said. "I feel sorry for her. Unless kids know they can have trust in you, they're not going to come and talk to you."

Gossip about the false accusation circulated for about two weeks, and Baumann said she heard it from customers.

"People were saying they had heard rumors that she'd made it up," Baumann said.

She admitted there were parts of the story that made her skeptical. "As a mother, it just didn't jibe."

Mary Gallagher, 39, of Worth, wondered what would have happened if police had caught someone who resembled the girl's description of her "attacker."

"Why would someone make that up? There's obviously something wrong," Gallagher said. "I mean, even the association with (rape) after he was cleared would always haunt him."

The girl probably wants to be left alone, said Cecilia Andrews, of Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. Andrews was working on a class assignment at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills.

Even though she doesn't know the whole story, Andrews said people shouldn't make up their minds one way or the other right now.

"It sounds like a pretty elaborate tale. I've told some fibs in my day, but that's a big one," Andrews said. "I would want to know why she said that (she was raped). Is she really recanting because she made it up or because she just wants to be done with it?"

Make her pay?

Andrews said the girl should not be prosecuted or have to repay money from the investigation, especially since the girl never named a specific person.

"I think there are a lot of people who probably want her to pay the money back," Andrews said. "But she has made her apologies."

Jim Kocim, 54, of Palos Heights was upset to know police time was wasted investigating a false claim. The investigation is said to have cost more than $250,000.

"It's very upsetting the (Palos Heights police) took the time from all those police detectives only for her selfish reason," Kocim said. "It's a shame."

Kevin McClain thinks the girl should have to repay the village, since it was taxpayer dollars that went toward finding a nonexistent attacker.

"I think they should have told her that she wouldn't be prosecuted to get her to confess and then prosecuted her anyway," said McClain, of Tinley Park. "I think it's not a surprise that she lied.

People lie and make things up for their own entertainment."

Bowman said she's glad the village won't press charges against the girl, or go after her parents for the money spent on the investigation.

"It's not the parents' fault," said Bowman, of Chicago Ridge. "They're probably just as distraught as the police department about all this."

The girl's motivation might change DiBrita's and Bowman's opinions. If she had money or revenge in mind, the women think she should be held accountable.

Either way, McClain said he thinks the incident will make life harder for future rape victims.

Police might not believe a woman, and may not respond as quickly because of their doubts.

"Then it will make it even more traumatic for someone who's dealing with something that's already traumatic," McClain said. "What do they say about the boy who cried wolf?"

The girl who cried wolf in the Palos Heights rape case has agreed to do community service as penance, her attorney said Saturday as the public reacted with a mixture of sympathy and outrage to news that a hoax was behind one of the Southland’s biggest criminal investigations.Police officially closed their investigation into the alleged Sept. 16 abduction and rape of the 17-year-old Stagg High School senior Friday afternoon after the girl confessed to fabricating the story.

Her family released a statement offering their “deepest apologies” to the community Friday. Rumors that her story was untrue had circulated openly for two weeks.

Her original allegation that she had been kidnapped from T.J. Grinders sandwich shop in the 12200 block of South Harlem Avenue and subjected to a three-hour sexual ordeal at knifepoint by an “olive-skinned” man prompted an estimated $250,000 police probe, provoked widespread fear and stoked anti-Arab sentiment in the diverse neighborhood.

Racial fallout ‘unintentional’

Speaking Saturday, her family’s attorney, Martin Dolan, said the girl and her family “understand the anger that this has caused.”

In an apparent reference to the anti-Arab feelings stirred by her false claims, Dolan said the family was particularly sorry “for any ill feelings this has caused against particular ethnic groups,” stressing that the fallout was “entirely unintentional.”

Once the girl, who is “suffering from some pretty serious emotional problems” has completed counselling and is “back on her feet,” she will volunteer with the village, Dolan said.

“The family is extremely remorseful,” he said. “This was an immature kid who made a very big error of judgement and never intended for this to rise to the level it did.”

Police accepted the offer of community service when the girl confessed Friday, Dolan said.Detective Dave Delaney said he believed the family — who were not at home Friday night or Saturday — were “doing everything they can to make this thing right.”

“They’re going through a pretty tough time right now,” Delaney said.

Community service at the police department normally includes chores like washing squad cars, weeding the lawn and flower beds and non-sensitive paperwork, Delaney said.

Details about how many service hours the girl will complete and when she will do them are not yet finalized.

Girl won’t be charged

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said Friday they will not charge the girl or pursue her family for the cost of the investigation.

Detectives negotiated to have the girl confess in return for a guarantee not to prosecute her, police sources say.

In the absence of a confession, there was insufficient evidence to bring charges, the sources said. Concern for the girl’s well-being also weighed in the decision not to press charges.

Dolan said the family never could hope to pay for the cost of the investigation but that they hoped their daughter’s contrition would be demonstrated by her service.

“The community service is never going to make up for the sum of the anger that may exist, but to punish this girl with criminal charges that makes it impossible to get a job when she is older isn’t going to help,” he said.

Gifts given to the girl and the family in the wake of her rape claims will be donated to rape victim charities, Dolan said.

Calls for support

The Rev. Edward Cronin, pastor of St. Alexander’s Church, on Saturday called on neighbors and schoolmates to support the girl who fabricated a story about being abducted and sexually assaulted Sept. 16.

“People understandably are asking questions and they are angry,” he said. “And of course she needs to take responsibility for what she did, but I think people will be sensitive to her.“We need to show tremendous compassion and try to help.”

Palos Heights Ald. Jean Gnap echoed Cronin’s message.

“If anyone has any charity in their heart they would think of what the family must have gone through and say a prayer that they can pull through this difficult time,” she said.

A team of 30 detectives had worked around the clock with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force to search for the alleged rapist in the immediate aftermath of the girl’s report.

Fabricated story

She had texted a pal twice during the evening of Sept. 16, telling him a “creepy” man was watching her through the window at the sandwich shop where she worked — just yards from and in full view of a fire station.

About 9 p.m., she called her friend and asked him to pick her up and drive her home, saying the man had returned as she closed the shop.

But by the time the friend, a fellow senior at Stagg, arrived just minutes later, the girl was missing and her bag and cigarettes were scattered on the sidewalk.

Police immediately launched a manhunt and were at the girl’s home, interviewing her parents, when she walked up the driveway barefoot and unkempt, claiming to have been raped.

T. J. Grinders owner Mark Holda endured public criticism in the days following the girl’s accusation, as residents questioned why he had allowed the girl to work alone at night.

Holda took to the streets to assist in the investigation, handing out fliers and saying the girl was confident working alone.

He declined to comment Saturday as he tried to rebuild his damaged business.

Workers in neighboring stores — many of whom joined the criticism of him last month — said he walked up and down the 12200 block of South Harlem Avenue Friday afternoon tearing down wanted posters.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

In a recent news story from Michigan (reprinted below) men accused of rape were not charged because they passed polygraph tests.

And what if they had refused to take the polygraphs? Well, it is no stretch to assume they would still be in jail.

There is, of course, no guarantee that men accused of rape will be offered the opportunity to take a polygraph test, or that they would be released from jail even if they pass the polygraph test. But if given the chance, men accused of rape had better take the test if they want to be released from jail.

So why aren't rape accusers required to take polygraphs? Well, even though the tests are considered in some sense valid when men accused of rape are asked to take them, the women who accuse the men of rape say they should be exempt from taking them. You see, rape victims' advocates have lobbied state and local governments "to ban or discourage police from asking rape accusers to take polygraph tests. They have contended that women will be discouraged from reporting sexual assaults if police don't simply take them at their word, without question." S. Taylor, KC Johnson, Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case, 378 (2007).

No one is interested in causing undue stress to persons who have traumatized by a rape. But is a polygraph more stressful to a rape accuser than a stint in jail is to an innocent man falsely accused?

The question scarcely survives its statement.

And if you don't think it's common that innocent men are jailed for rapes they didn't commit, spend several hours reading this Web site to see the actual news accounts of that very thing happening. And then read the objective sources that place false rape claims anywhere from nine to more likely closer to fifty percent.

If a polygraph would keep an innocent man from languishing in jail, we should not exempt rape accusers from polygraph tests. Let us be blunt: if the insistence that rape accusers submit to a polygraph test keeps a hypothetical rape victim from "coming forward" resulting in a rapist remaining at large, as terrible as that is, that result is preferable to allowing an innocent man to be jailed for a crime he did not commit. That is really the bottom line. (Some radical feminists do not agree with that, which tells us everything we need to know about their vile agenda.)

The fact of the matter is that polygraphs are routinely used by law enforcement officials, and they are a particularly important tool in one specific area of the criminal justice system -- insuring that sex offenders (who, incidentally, are predominantly male) are adhering to the terms of their probation. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, for example, has upheld the use of polygraphs for this purpose, saying that polygraph testing "produces an incentive to tell the truth, and thereby advances the sentencing goals." The vast majority of states require polygraphs for use when it comes to sex offenders. Thus, polygraphs are perfectly acceptable when used on men who want to avoid a vile sex charge. Do you see the pattern here? Let's spell it out:

Polygraphs: good, when men are asked to take them to help law enforcement officials discern if they've committed a vile sex crime;

Polygraphs: bad, when women are asked to take them to help law enforcement officials discern if they are lying about being victimized by a man's alleged vile sex crime.

This is a gross and intellectually dishonest double standard. No rationale justifies exempting rape accusers from submitting to polygraphs. Such exemption only serves to exalt the radical feminist agenda to jack up rape convictions over any concern for innocent men falsely accused of rape. But that, after is, is really the entire purpose of this immoral, politically driven double double standard, isn't it?

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

In the news stories below, a college student lied that she had been raped. The reactions to this revelation are most interesting:

The Dean of Students made a refreshing statement one rarely hears in these situations: that he is grateful that no rape occurred. Does anyone ever recall hearing a sexual assault counselor or a radical feminist say that? For example, after it turned out the Duke Lacrosse accuser lied?

In fact, the reaction after the Duke lacrosse players were declared "innocent" by the state's attorney general (his word, not mine) was exactly the opposite -- anger and disappointment. Think about that: some radical feminists apparently would have preferred the accuser to have been brutally raped (or, more likely, to have her lie go undetected) as opposed to having the three young men declared "innocent," as occurred. Three totally innocent young men were released from a year-long hell, and the only thing that some radical feminists could muster was to angrily declare that "something must have happened" the night of the alleged rape. This despite the fact that irrefutable evidence shows nothing happened. You see, they had the perfect narrative -- privileged young white male athletes, a poor struggling black woman trying to make her way in the world -- except there was no rape. There was a crime -- the woman made a false police report, but I didn't hear a single radical feminist condemn it. Not one. Is there a better indication of their utter contempt for men and boys wrongly accused of rape? That may be the saddest, most twisted aspect of that entire case. It is symptomatic of the gender divisive and dysfunctional "rape culture" these unbalanced women have manufactured that presumes rampant, unpunished male subjugation of females.

Getting back to the news story below: The other interesting reaction is from the college woman who is still scared and, despite the assurance that "nothing" happened, still thinks "something" happened. This is proof of the uphill climb men face when they are falsely accused -- the very accusation becomes fact in the minds of far too many people, an assumption planted by the rape hysteria fanned by an over-eager news media looking for sensational subjects to report. It also underscores the need for men charged with rape to be anonymous until convicted. A rape charge differs from any other claim in terms of the stigma and the harm it does to innocent persons, and the media, and the law, need to start acknowledging that reality.

In the second story, the woman's motive is revealed: to cover up a sexual relationship with another student -- the most common motive for lying about rape.

ANDERSON — An alleged rape on the campus of Anderson University last week was falsely reported, a university official said Tuesday.

Dean of Students Brent Baker announced to students during a morning chapel service that a female student lied when she told campus police she had been raped Oct. 6.

“At the conclusion of the investigation by the Anderson Police Department, they’ve determined— and we’re in agreement— that a false rape report was filed,” Baker told the large crowd of students gathered at Reardon Auditorium.

“At one level I’m so grateful that this situation has come to some resolution,” Baker went on to say. “We’ve come to find out that our campus was not victimized by a danger from outside our walls nor by an unknown person who lives among us.”

Anderson University and Anderson police announced Oct. 7 that a female student in her early 20s told campus police the previous day that she had been raped by a black man wearing a mask after returning to her campus apartment.

Senior Lauren Burke said rumors of the false charge had been circulating. around the campus for days but it was good to finally know the truth.

Since hearing of the rape last Tuesday, Burke said she has had her landlord upgrade the locks to her off-campus apartment and enrolled in a self dense class. She said knowing the rape did not occur doesn’t make safety less of a priority.

“It’s something we should have been aware of before,” she said. In reality, we don’t know exactly what happened. I don’t think nothing happened either.”

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In the news story below, a woman who was arrested for falsely crying "rape" has the audacity to proclaim, "That's why women don't report rape."

Do you see the rich irony here? A false rape accuser parroting the paid sexual assault advocacy industry that never met a man accused of rape that it considered innocent. Incredible. Their sexual assault metanarrative, that treats falsely accused men and boys as nothing more than necessary collateral damage, has oozed down to the underbelly of society -- women who would falsely cry rape.

In fact, this sentiment underlies much of the reluctance to punish women for making false rape reports.

And it is as wrong as it could be.

Men need to be punished for raping; women need to be punished for making false rape claims. It is that simple. Both are crimes. Both can destroy lives. If you don't believe that a false rape claim can destroy a life, spend several hours reviewing this Web site.

There is much concern among the radical feminists about the fact that women don't "come forward" to report rapes, but there is no concern that, of the women who do report they've been raped, a sizable percentage are false claims. This is fact, objectively verifiable and beyond dispute, as we've reported here many times.

Police today blasted Deborah Davies, not only for wasting their time and resources, but also for undermining the plight of genuine sex assault victims.

They revealed that when arrested for perverting the course of justice the 35-year-old brazenly said: "That's why women don't report rape."

But having maintained her innocence during four interviews, she then admitted her lies when confronted with all the flaws in her story and claimed she did it because she "wanted some attention."

Davies, of Hilton Street, Ashton, was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours' unpaid work after pleading guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to making a false allegation of rape.

It was shortly before 1.30am on Wednesday, April 2, this year that police were told a woman had been raped by one man and subjected to an attempted rape by a second stranger in an alleyway off Wigan Road.

The scene behind Mad Jack's and Queen's Theatre nightclubs were sealed off and an incident tent was erected to preserve the scene in bad weather while forensic experts scoured the area for clues.

Officers stood guard at the scene for 15 hours, house-to-house inquiries were made, the "victim" was given a physical examination at the specialist St Mary's Hospital in Manchester and CCTV footage was studied.

While the victim herself was quite plausible, albeit the worse for drink, it was the film footage which first aroused suspicions.

It gave a good view of the scene and showed no such attack taking place.

Monday, October 20, 2008

A newspaper article from Ohio reports on a speech delivered by a Mr. Rus Funk, a sexual assault advocate. Most of what Mr. Rus Funk says is worthwhile. But he obliterates whatever credibility he might have with his stark, blatant and unforgivable misandry. The article is here (from The Athens News). An excerpt:

A question from an audience member about false rape accusations provoked visible emotion to appear on Funk’s face. “Rape and domestic violence have the lowest reporting rates of all crimes,” he said, “and we do have a false reporting problem: too many women who have been raped say that they have not.”

At this assertion, the audience, silent for most of the workshop, applauded. He closed this line of conversation with, “The false issue of false reporting is misogynistic and a result of societal hatred for women.”

The audience, of course, is as uninformed as Mr. Rus Funk.

Mr. Rus Funk denies there is a false reporting problem despite the fact that at least 9 percent and probably closer to half of all sexual assault claims are false. See "Until Proven Innocent," the widely praised (praised even by the New York Times, which the book skewers) and painstaking study of the Duke Lacrosse case in which Stuart Taylor and Professor K.C. Johnson examined all of the major studies dealing with false claims of sexual assault. Does Mr. Rus Funk know better? For example, is Mr. Rus Funk spewing the lie preached by the sexual assault industry that only two percent of all rape claims are false? Then he needs to read this law review article, which debunks the two percent claim by tracing it to its source: http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v33-issue3/greer.pdf

In addition, FBI statistics show that false reporting of sexual assault is fourfold greater than the average for all crimes. The Politics of Sexuality, Barry M. Dank, Editor in Chief, Vol. 3 at 36, n. 8.

And of course we need not even mention Prof. Eugene Kanin's landmark study on false sexual assault claims that found that 41% of the claims he examined were not just false but actually recanted. The number of false claims may been higher. Here is the study: http://www.sexcriminals.com/library/doc-1002-1.pdf

Mr. Rus Funk dismisses false reports in two ways:

First, he says that anyone daring to give them credence is a misogynist.

You read that correctly. He should come to this site and try to tell the countless men who read our postings each day and who write to me with often gutwrenching tales about their ordeals that they are nothing but worthless misogynists merely because they have the audacity to suggest they were victimized by a false rape claim.

You tell them, Mr. Rus Funk!

Mr. Rus Funk's sort of inane caterwauling -- really nothing more than the the yipping yapping death howl of radical gender feminism -- or is it the bow wow of the paid and biased sexual assault industry that never knew a man accused of rape who was innocent? -- reminds me of the time the brilliant Prof. Alan Dershowitz dared to discuss false rape reports in a Harvard Law School class. His efforts were rewarded by an accusation of sexual harassment. So much for enlightened Harvard Law School.

But labeling people who even want to discuss false rape claims as misogynists? There is, of course, no more effective way to cut off any possibility of serious and sincere dialogue on a subject than to brand the opposition as "evil." This is what Hitler did, and what every other tyrant throughout history has done. It is a tactic intended to work as a discussion closer, the serene ipsedixit of the demagogue to end all debate, now and forever -- Mr. Rus Funk's way of unilaterally declaring, "I win. The truth be damned, I win" -- because, you see, ideology trumps facts; the politics of resentment trumps common sense and rationality; and the abstract notion of female victimization and subjugation trumps the actual, true-to-life experiences of men and boys victimized by false accusations and convictions. "I win," said Mr. Rus Funk, "because I say I do."

But of course he doesn't. And the men falsely accused who read this blog know exactly what he is.

Second, Mr. Rus Funk resorts to the Radical Feminist Playbook and tries to minimize false rape claims not by talking about false rape claims or about any of the studies I've cited above, but by talking about an entirely different subject -- underreporting of actual rapes. This, of course, is akin to saying that the flu is not a problem at all because skin cancer exists.

I would just once like to hear the angry feminist left (and that includes you, Mr. Rus Funk) condemn false rape claims instead of dismissing them by talking about "underreporting" of actual rapes. You would do your constituents a favor because every time a woman or a girl makes a false rape claim, she reduces the credibility of actual rape victims. I acknowledge that there are far too many rapes, and we have said many times on this site that young men need to be educated about what "consent" is to help end rape. Why can't the angry feminist left acknowledge even once that false rape claims are a significant problem and that young women need to be educated about them? Why can't they acknowledge for one instant that men are destroyed by false claims?

Mr. Rus Funk is not to be taken seriously, of course. He is a hater. His shtick seems to be to preach to his choir of impressionable young women who are shocked, shocked I tell you, at the newsflash that half of the population of planet earth is arrayed against them. The truth be damned.

Putting aside inanities and pissants such as Mr. Rus Funk, two propositions are eminently reasonable and are not inconsistent: First, it is imperative to appreciate the concern that false accusations not dominate the discourse at the expense of dismissing prejudices true rape victims still face in certain respects. Second, removing false accusations from the discourse and dismissing the victimization of falsely accused men as a "myth" is not merely dishonest but morally grotesque. That position denigrates innocent men, substitutes factually incorrect feminist mantras for truth, and is, in fact, as hurtful as the ludicrous assertion that “she asked for it.”

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Bravo to Phil Kadner for the following piece (see below) -- yet another on the Palos Heights false rape claim.

First, it is breathtaking that the public is expressing sympathy for a young woman who committed the crime of falsely reporting rape. Spend several hours reading this Web site and you will see that the crime this young woman committed has not infrequently led to innocent men and boys being wrongly convicted of the vile crime of rape. There are innumerable examples of males being arrested on the basis of such lies -- they are extremely common, and we try to track them in this Web site.

Think about your son, father, husband, boyfriend, uncle or brother being tossed into a jail cell for a rape he did not commit, then tell me how much sympathy you have for this false accuser.

And, of course, these same people who feel sorry for the young woman would also feel sorry for a troubled, mentally disturbed 17-year-old boy who raped. Ah, right. More likely some would call for his castration.

As you can imagine, no sympathy is heaped upon the business owner who actually employed the liar -- you know, took a chance on her, paid her salary and all that. Why? Because he allowed her to do a job that is potentially dangerous -- close up the shop after dark. Um, gee, I suspect that if the employer had a 17-year-old boy do this job, nobody would be criticizing him. Because we all know that 17-year-old boys are able to fight off gun toting robbers with great ease. I also suspect that this employer pays the girl what he would pay a boy -- you know, equality and all that fairness stuff. So perhaps the employer shouldn't be vilified merely because he treated this young woman as if she were an equal member of the human race. (I also hope that this employer realizes that dishonesty is a common basis for firing at will employees.)

Secondly, I marvel at the folks who want to use a false rape claim as an occasion for a teaching moment to instill fear in the populace about real rape, as if rape has anything to do with this lie. Never once does it occur to these enlightened Chicken Littles, so caught up in the girl's fabricated rape hysteria, that the false rape claim should provide an occasion for a teaching moment about -- false rape claims.

There's a lot of compassion out there for the 17-year-old girl who cried rape in Palos Heights.

Here's a small sampling of some of the comments I have heard since Friday, when an attorney for the girl's family announced her accusation was bogus.

"That girl is very confused. I feel sorry for her."

"I feel so sorry for her parents."

"She had to be facing a major crisis in her life to do this."

"Maybe she has some sort of mental problem. Why else would she make up a story like that?"Maybe because she's evil, wicked and self-absorbed.

"No one should judge her, or her parents, until we have the whole story."

Great. But the parents, through their attorney, are saying the public is not entitled to the whole story.

In almost every case, I asked the compassionate people for their thoughts about the owner of the sandwich shop, T.J. Grinders, where the girl worked.

There had been a lot of criticism of that fellow for allowing a 17-year-old to close the store after dark.

"He was still wrong for letting her close," I was told.

"If one good thing came out of this, I hope parents are more aware of their children working in dangerous situations."

"Anything could happen to a 17-year-old girl left in a store by herself."

Yes, Anything could happen. But nothing did happen to this particular girl. She was not in danger. She was not harmed. She made up this story.

All the people expressing compassion for the 17-year-old who lied apparently have none for a businessman who has been ridiculed because of her lie.

In fact, one of the things that struck me was that in the apology issued by the family's lawyer there is no apology to the store owner.

Tough luck, buddy. You hired a 17-year-old. You trusted her to lock up. You deserve what you get.

In order to understand why a girl would make up a story like this, you first have to know what her story really is. I haven't heard it. The family has asked the public to respect their privacy.

But this no longer is a private matter. The police became involved. The entire community was out hunting for a non-existent attacker.

I think people have the right to some basic information here.

When did the parents find out their daughter was lying?

Did she confess voluntarily, or was she confronted by evidence, gathered by police, that proved her story was bogus?

Why did she wait nearly a month to admit she had made up the rape story?

Her right to privacy, it seems to me, ended when this "courageous young lady," as some called her, distributed fliers in the community in an effort to track down her rapist.

There was no need to do that.

She could have said she was too traumatized to participate in that sort of thing. People would have understood.

If she had once thought this was just a little lie told for some personal reason, it should have now been apparent to her at that point that the consequences of her lie had gotten very serious indeed.

Instead of backing off, she got involved. That doesn't seem innocent to me. It seems self-indulgent.

As for compassion, I wonder how many people would express the same understanding for a 17-year-old inner city kid accused of raping a girl in a suburban fast-food store?

Anybody want to withhold judgment until he's actually convicted of a crime?

Anybody feeling sorry for his parents, or are you saying "Just like those people to do something like that?"

The number one excuse I've heard for the 17-year-old's behavior is that "she probably didn't realize how serious all of this would get."

Are you telling me she never read "To Kill a Mockingbird," which is a story about a girl who falsely accuses a man of rape?

There have been dozens of movies and maybe hundreds of television programs on the same theme. This was a particularly nasty lie.

Instead of worrying about self-defense classes or whether teenagers lock up a store after dark, maybe people should sit down and discuss with their children what it means to lie about a crime or engage in a conspiracy to invent a lie about a crime.

I suspect someone knew this girl was lying from the start and kept quiet about it.

They say, though, that there is a rape suspect out there they are searching for.

The e-mails:One e-mail mentions a rape at the BP Station at 20th Avenue North and 4th Street North; there is no gas station at that location.

Another e-mail says a rape happened at a BP Station at 62nd Avenue and 4th Street North.

Detectives say they did investigate a possible sexual battery there, but dropped the investigation when video from the business proved the woman wasn't telling the truth, and she recanted her story.

Two other locations are mentioned in the e-mail; one at the Red Mesa on 4th Street North, the other at 5th Avenue North and 28th Street South.

Detectives say they are not investigating cases at either location.

The actual rape suspect they are looking for:

They say the e-mail does have at least one element of truth: it describes the suspect as being a black male with tear-drop tattoos.

Detectives say they are investigating a case with a similar suspect description.

It happened last Friday, October 10, in the area of 38th Avenue North and 28th Street North.The suspect in that case was said to be a black man with tear-drop tattoos who fled the area on bicycle after the attack.

Anyone with information about this suspect is asked to contact the St. Petersburg Police Department.

An interesting fact recently appeared in the news that escaped most everyone's notice -- likely because it was hidden in the middle of a typical news report about the trials and tribulations of rape victims, and those stories are all-too common. According to this recent news article, 47% of rape claims in Plano, Texas this year were false: "This year Plano’s sex crimes investigators have reviewed 34 cases, 16 of which were dismissed due to evidence proving false accusation." Story archived here

That sounds about right.

In Professor Eugene Kanin's landmark study of false rape claims, he found 41% of the rape claims in the Midwest town he studied over a period of several years not just false but actually recanted. The percentage of claims that were actually false likely was even higher. Professor Kanin's studied was unbiased, and his credentials were beyond reproach -- no one could accuse him of being a conservative, MRA misogynist. The 41% percent may seem startling, but for those of us who study false rape claims and who try to be objective about it, that percentage is not in any sense alarming.

False rape stats are hard to come by in the news media. False rape claims generally are not deemed to be serious problems, while rape is, and false rape claims are rarely emphasised because such emphasis is perceived to detract from the seriousness of rape. The refusal to talk about false claims is politically motivated, in part due to a fear that it would invite some to label or prejudge all rape claimants as liars. So the media silence about the false rape epidemic is designed to support the disingenuous feminist agenda that all rape claims are to be presumed truthful. (Note there is a difference between believing that all rape claims are presumptively truthful and believing that all rape claims should be taken very seriously and examined objectively. I take the latter approach, as would the vast majority of reasonable people with no preconceived biases.)

But every once in a while some data creeps through the news media to shed a light on the prevalence of false claims. This news article is one such example.

That percentage not only is consistent with Professor Kanin's study but is also consistent with the conclusion of the landmark study of the Duke Lacrosse non-rape case by Stuart Taylor, Prof. K.C. Johnson, "Until Proven Innocent" which examined all the major studies and objectively verifiable data and concluded that at least 9 percent and probably closer to half of all rape claims are false. That book has been widely praised by even liberal publications. Its discussion of false rape claims is admirable because it acknowledges the elusive nature of these numbers, and the impossibility of ever knowing for certain.

The fact is, we will never know for certain how many rape claims are false, but it's fair to say it's a significant number.

Yet there is virtually no outcry that one class and one class only, males -- innocent men and boys -- is at risk of being victimized by this crime. There certainly would be an outcry if any other crime singled out one class of people as this crime does. Is this because of the perceived historical "male privilege"? The fact is, the typical victim of a false rape claim -- a late teens or early twenties guy -- who is put through the terror of a false rape claim likely never experienced anything in his life approaching "privilege." In fact, his female peers are more likely to be in college than he is, and once graduated, they are more likely to be making more money than he does until she decides to have children. Of the fifteen leading causes of death, men lead women in 14 of them -- and young men are at risk of death by violence and suicide at multiple times the levels of their female peers. Every thinking person not infected by the laughing gas of Women's Studies classes knows that alleged "male privilege" does not apply to young men. In any event and more important, that concept is wholly impertinent in the context of an injustice such as false rape claims.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a false rape epidemic in our society, and it needs to be addressed with tougher sentences and with an emphasis on greater education to teach young women the dangers -- to the innocent and to them -- of lying about rape.

Ignoring it might appease some far left angry feminists and sexual assault counselors whose financial interest in engendering rape hysteria is obvious. But ignoring it isn't fair, and it isn't moral, and it does actual rape victims no favors -- because they are tainted by these lies.

A northwest suburban woman who reported being raped in a Wal-Mart washroom on Sunday ended up behind bars herself when the actual story proved a little different.

Rolling Meadows police responded about 4 p.m. Sunday to the Wal-Mart at 1460 Golf Rd. when a woman reported she was forced into the men's washroom and sexually assaulted in a stall, according to a police report.

However, police reviewed videotapes and discovered that the woman had gone into the washroom with a man willingly, the report said. She then changed her story and said she did have consensual sex with the man, whom she did not know, but he refused to pay her for the sex act.

Gina Jaurique, 24, of 607 Bode Circle in Hoffman Estates, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.

Jaurique was released on bond and is scheduled to appear in court in Rolling Meadows on Oct. 29.

Summit County prosecutors will not be taking a rape allegation involving an Akron police officer to the grand jury, Chief Counsel Mary Ann Kovach said in a report Tuesday.

Kovach blamed a lack of cooperation from the complainant and sketchy and inconsistent details as the major reasons behind the decision.

The accusation involved a 22-year-old Wayne County woman and a 26-year-old police officer.

The woman claims the officer sexually assaulted her Aug. 17 at a hotel after she and her friend met two off-duty police officers at a downtown eatery.

The foursome attended a bachelor party at the hotel.

The alleged victim made a call to a 911 operator after the sexual encounter and was taken to St. Thomas Hospital, where she was examined.

The statements that were reviewed showed witnesses and bachelor party participants gave varying accounts of what each of the participants was doing and their state of dress and behavior in front of each other while in the rooms, the report said.

''All agree insults were exchanged following the sexual encounter,'' the report said, but it was unclear ''whether a perceived 'slight' — officers' leaving the room early, their departure for Myrtle Beach, failure by the officer to give his full name, phone number or a ride to the two women when they were leaving at approximately 4:45 a.m. — or some other abuse, precipitated the rape complaint.''

The three-page finding was distributed to Police Chief Michael Matulavich and the media.

''The complainant was clearly upset and angry when she left the hotel room,'' the report said.

''She reported rape to the front desk at the Radisson Hotel at 4:50 a.m. and made two statements during the investigation.''

According to the report, the whereabouts of the Burbank woman have not been determined, despite several attempts by an investigator to contact her.

There were also conflicting accounts on whether the woman had a brief sexual contact with another officer prior to having sex with this officer.

The officer does not deny having sex with the woman, but says it was consensual. He has been on administrative leave.

''The bottom line is, this officer did nothing wrong. He was falsely accused and this investigation reveals that,'' said Paul Hlynsky, Akron police union president. ''Sadly, when you are a police officer you have to pay the price twice even with a false accusation, because now he will have to face an internal investigation.''

Kovach states in the report that there is a lack of clarity surrounding the incidents. ''Ordinarily this office would proceed to the grand jury with a case such as this in order to sort out the facts; however without the cooperation of the complainant, this cannot be accomplished . . . If the complainant contacts our office we will meet to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to the grand jury.''